From Ethics to Algorithms: Medical Advertising, AI Diagnosis and Professional Liability in India

India's medical liability framework was conceived for the stethoscope era as a binary relationship between physician and patient, governed by the reasonable doctor standard, sanctioned by the Consumer Protection Act, and disciplined by professional ethics bodies. That architecture is increasingly strained. The rise of influencer medicine and corporate hospital advertising has transformed healthcare into a marketable commodity, eroding the ethical firewall between clinical judgment and commercial incentive. Simultaneously, artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted diagnosis has introduced a new class of decision-maker that existing tort principles cannot cleanly accommodate. When an algorithm errs, it remains uncertain whether liability attaches to the physician who deferred to it, the hospital that deployed it, or the manufacturer who designed it. This article argues that India's liability framework requires comprehensive reconstruction across three fronts: first, a modernised advertising code aligned with the National Medical Commission Act, 2019 and the Consumer Protection Act, 2019; second, a dedicated AI medical device certification and liability regime informed by the European Union Artificial Intelligence Act, 2024 and the United States Food and Drug Administration's regulatory guidance; and third, institutional enterprise liability that holds corporate hospitals, not merely individual clinicians, accountable for systemic failures. Drawing on Indian constitutional doctrine, comparative law, and emerging technology regulation, this article proposes a reform blueprint suited to India's demographic complexity and digital healthcare ambitions. The article concludes that future medical liability must be distributed across three axes, the human clinician, the algorithmic tool, and the deploying institution if the law is to remain a meaningful guarantor of patient welfare in the age of digital medicine.